you gotta be where you are

http://withoutmedia.wordpress.com

interesting study coming out of the journalism school at the University of Maryland. 200 undergraduates were asked (as part of a general studies class) to forgo social media of all kinds, for 24 hours. as one might guess, panic/chaos/mayhem ensues.

my reactions range from the sympathetic to the incredulous/judgey. (okay, well, most of my reactions are judgey. we'll save that for another time). on the sympathetic side, I think the definition of "social media" used was almost prohibitively broad - no internet, ipod, magazines or newspapers, cell phones, and also what I think of as social media: facebook, twitter, texting, IMing/g-chatting and the like. so not only were the students asked to recuse themselves from internet-dependent social interactions, but also any source of news or non face-to-face social interactions. so, you know, that would be difficult to do, especially given the social and information platform that modern university life subsists within. I think the task could be more accurately described as a technology fast, as opposed to abstinence from social media. a luddite utopia.

however, some of the quotes from the student's assignment blogs (done the day after, natch) are ridiculous. and judge-able. a sample:

“Honestly, this experience was probably the single worst experience I have ever had.”

really? really? this is the worst thing that's ever happened to you? not fluffy dying? not getting rejected from U.Va.? (heh. sorry. tried to filter. though not very hard.)? you live a sheltered life, champ.

“After a few hours in class I decided mentally I couldn’t last any longer because texting in class keeps me occupied when I am bored and I was extremely bored in class that day so the effects of no technology took its toll.”

okay, not to go all mom on you, but dude. you're in class. presumably studying something you find REMOTELY interesting. like, learn. RADICAL, dude.

"My short attention span prevented me from accomplishing much, so I stared at the wall for a little bit. After doing some push-ups, I just decided to take a few Dramamine and go to sleep to put me out of my misery.”

yep. just drug the pain away.

“I got back from class around 5, frantically craving some technology and to look through my phone so I cheated a little bit and checked my phone. From my phone, I accessed ... many twitter @replies from followers wondering where I was and if I was ok.”

JUDGE.


so, a bit torn. I get the culture we exist in that makes cell phones, iPods, and the internet a mindless, automatic part of our existence. I'm part of it. but, there's a definite part of me that clings to the idea that it must be important to be able to unplug, unconnect, and just be with the people around you. or by yourself. as the best flight attendant ever told me as we were landing in Vegas, "you gotta be where you are." (we were crapping about the time difference and the hours of casino-hopping that awaited us starting at, oh, 4 am our time). I don't know whether I should espouse this as deeply as I do, or whether it's just romantic clinging to a way of life that is effectively (and forever) gone, but I just want these kids to go camping.